حامد عابدینی

The city can be seen as a dual outcome of both design and policy or as the product of a process where policymaking provides the managerial framework and design serves as a platform for creativity and generating new urban conditions at both large and small scales. The objective of both sides is to enhance urban quality of life, which is achievable only when these domains operate continuously and interactively, allowing their interplay to materialize within the spaces and forms of the city. A review of past experiences in Iran shows that design has often been treated as separate from urban policymaking processes. Despite emphasizing the importance of a qualitative, design-oriented approach, urban policy has not managed to create a structured mechanism that effectively integrates design practices at architectural and urban levels. In response to this issue, the present research aims to develop a theoretical framework to clarify the role of architectural and urban design within the urban policymaking process by reviewing specialized literature on urban policy in Iran. This qualitative study uses a descriptive-analytical approach, examining library sources, documents, and previous experiences to propose a theoretical model that defines the role of design in urban policymaking. The findings suggest that if policymaking outputs are framed as part of the civilizational process of the city through design policies, then purposeful design intervention becomes possible. Policies can be transformed into actionable design guidelines by accounting for the factors, components, and attributes central to architectural and urban design. These guidelines serve as a crucial link between policy and design, addressing the multifaceted aspects of urban development.

As an urban component, architecture has continuously played an effective role in the quality of Urban public spaces and the promotion of civility in them, which has diminished in recent decades due to reasons such as the dominance of the economic dimension of space and the culture of consumerism. This study tries to present a theoretical model to explain the position of architecture in improving the physical qualities of urban public spaces.

The present study examines the cause-and-effect between architectural elements and the physical qualities of public space in the form of positivist paradigm logic and presents a coherent theoretical plan in this connection using a descriptive-analytical method.

The physical system of the city is studied in three scales: macro, medium, and micro. The micro-scale is related to how architecture plays a role in the physical quality of public spaces. This role of architecture is realized through five general categories of physical elements, i.e. body, mass and dialectical space inside and outside, size of space, and components of space, which directly affects three general categories of physical qualities of public spaces, i.e. the nature of elements )accessibility and flexibility), relationships between elements (confinement, continuity, mobility) and sequencing (sequence, hierarchy, and contrast).

Architecture and urban public space are two important contemporary urban heritages. The expression of the city's identity depends on establishing a proportional and correct ratio between the physical system of architecture and the quality of social life in the city.

The following article is formed around a fundamental question related to the architecture of the last century in Iran: Why do the projects that somehow referring to the past, have more legitimacy in the eyes of experts and political powers of this era? This question requires sociological research in cultural, social, political and epistemological fields. In the way of developing the research, a subject entitled "returning to oneself through reference to the past", stands out clearly as a grand-discourse that has taken over the intellectual climate of the society. This grand-discourse, like a powerful center of gravity, has guided Iran's social and political atmosphere to produce retrospective micro-discourses by the three political powers present in this era, and its power is so strong that it has even dominated modernity and modernism. meanwhile, architecture, as a medium to convey this message to the society, has been involved in this retrospect, and the pervasiveness of this view has turned it into a mythical reference for obtaining maximum legitimacy, the heaviness of this issue, narrows the space for the emergence of other discourses and capacities marginalized. This fundamental and theoretical research, with a systematic study of the concepts arising from the productive discourse of power in society, based on an analysis of the critical paradigm, has gone to the inner levels of power relations in Iran in the last century in order to get a clear picture of how to present the rise of "legitimacy architecture myth" in contemporary Iranian architecture.

In harmony with other aspects of civilization, Iranian cities, in the face of modernity, have taken a new step in their existence and, alongside the physical transformation and the emergence of architectural and urban spaces with a new configuration, have experienced a novel dimension of social space. Baharestan Square is a tangible example of this new spatial arrangement, which at the end of the Qajar era, outside the established order, transformed into a center of social activism and the libertarianism of the constitutionalists. This study, within the framework of a critical paradigm, seeks to explore the factors and forces that have shaped Baharestan Square as a civic space in modern urban order in the historical space-time of Tehran during the constitutional era. It aims to give voice to the overlooked aspects of this experience by narrating its social space, contrary to one-sided physical or symbolic analyses. Civic space, as the final layer of urban public space, is a living space that, with society’s dominance over it, becomes a discursive and socio-political platform for citizens, allowing the free spirit of society to regenerate through the support of its institutions. Based on the interpretation of this study, Baharestan Square, during the constitutional era, became the possession of the constitutionalists, backed by urban independence and detachment from the cohesive network of public spaces, creating a discursive platform through the presence of the progressive institution of the parliament, associations, and affiliated organizations, as well as the diversity and multiplicity resulting from the formation of a modern society, and also, pursuing demands and litigations with the establishment of the dualism of the government and the nation, which, along with fundamentally disrupting the traditional governing order, brought the social life of the city into a completely novel existence and introduced a new experience of placemaking in the public spaces of the city.

This urban issue of terminating and ignoring such buildings as heritage of industrial architecture has caused the closure of this constructions, in spite of having an applicable life cycle and architectural principles; however, by some reactions from various institutions and to promote economic and social sustainability, the condition for having a new application and restoration these industrial buildings as a heritage is provided, which are examples of the experiences of adaptability in Iran as the main focus of this research. Therefore, the aim of this research is to review the successful experiences of multi-functional and universal adaptable architecture to compare their strategies with the heritage of industrial experiences in the city of Tehran. In this research, the studies of adaptability for universal samples are considered as the basis for exploring the multi-functional architectural strategies. The approaches include three physical layers of the building structure, facilities and facade, which have been evaluated by using Delphi method on the heritage of industrial architecture in city of Tehran as a statistical population. The non-parametric statistical tests of Cochran's Q test and Friedman's test, were applied to analyze data; the theoretical sampling method for both statistical population (Tehran's industrial architectural heritage) and (relevant experts) was adopted. According to the expert’s ideas, the strategies of two-layered structure and facade in the target buildings were confirmed; according to the data analysis, ‘Argo Factory’ had the highest Degrees of Freedom (df) regarding the structure layer, and in relation to the facade, the ‘Iranian Artists Forum’ with the highest average test rank, showed the highest conformity of the facade and the structure. However, regarding the facilities, no compliance of the facility was found. The industrial architectural heritage of Tehran includes some buildings that reused for another purpose as: Argo Factory (changed to Argo Contemporary Art Museum & Cultural Centre), Iranshahr Barracks (Iranian Artists Forum), Beryank Hosiery Factory (Haftchenar's Museum of Wildlife and Natural Monuments) and Qasr Prison (Qasr Garden Museum/ Museum of the Qasr Prison). The target buildings were ranked according to the data acquired by calculating mean rank for the strategies were applied for each layer. According to the results, two characteristics were found in the industrial buildings that can highly affect the adaptive reuse of the heritage of industrial architecture, 1. the concentration of the structure at the lowest points and limited spaces with more free spaces compared to its counterparts, and 2. the adaptation of the building facade to the structure.

In the contemporary era, the concept of sustainability has become an inclusive paradigm in a variety of fields of human knowledge. In the field of architecture, the concept of sustainability has been one of the most significant discourses through the past few decades due to its multifaceted relationship with the environment, culture, economy and society. This process of architectural impact on sustainability issues has been fundamental and has entered the field of architectural education, resulting in changes in the curriculum and educational approaches. One of the most significant of these approaches is the issue of energy and simulation of buildings, not having yet provided a suitable model for its training despite its complex features. Consequently, this study tends to present an efficient model for using energy simulation to develop the process of sustainable architecture education in Iran, derived from studies conducted in this field and review of global experiences. The present research applies analytical-descriptive method which, considering the researches done with a forward-looking attitude, searches to offer the desired model. The findings of this study primarily specify the classification of issues and impediments to sustainable architecture education, followed by extracting effective parameters in energy simulation training in the process of sustainable architecture education. Ultimately, this research, by considering the experience of using a sample of simulation tools, presents its educational model derived from different parts of the research to develop the position of sustainable architecture education. Principles on which the educational model of this research is based include: taking notice to sustainable architecture education as a paradigm, interactive education, appropriate software education, specialization and continuity of different aspects of outputs due to the multifaceted nature of sustainability.

The components of a traditional Iranian city include harmonious and cohesive structures arising from different concepts. The network of passages is one of the most significant communicative elements in these cities, which in addition to connecting different parts of the context, have contributed to the presence and various activities of the residents of the neighborhood and have had an important place in the public domain of the city. The exposure of the space organization and current life in these passages to the content and physical transformation of cities is a significant issue. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to scrutinize the position of historical passages in the structural system of public spaces of the city and to extract the factors affecting the position. To this end, this study examined to see how this element works in the public and collective domains of today’s cities. This research employed a qualitative approach and a descriptive and analytical method, and it examined the concept and characteristics of historical passages and the components of public space related to them through bibliographic and document studies. These components included access and movement, hierarchy, stillness, contrast and divergence, mobility and diversity, land-use intermixture, spatial flexibility, and continuity. This study used spatial physical analysis to examine the interaction of factors in the study area of Dar-Khoungah passage. The analysis was based on visual evidence and field observations. Due to the formation of the public space of Dar-Khoungah passage based on the organization system of neighborhood centers and the existence of evident characteristics such as historical buildings, spatial openings, old land-uses, and their arrangements, this study analyzed this passage from different perspectives such as urban space organization, part-whole relationship, joint communications, and component analysis and explained its effective qualities on the public space of the city.  Analysis of the data shows that these qualities include physical connection and semantic relation of the public space, identification of the public space, balancing the public space, and the function of physical elements of the passage in explaining the public space, which can be a basis for future development of the passage, promotion of activities, social interactions and solving its physical issues and problems.

Problem statement:

 By the beginning of the Safavid rule, a new era of civilization and progress started to initiate in the city of Isfahan. Economic and political stability, along with a balanced establishing of social, religious and governmental powers, prepared a fundamental change in the urban structure and the social and urban relations of Isfahan city.Therefore, the city moved toward a new kind of urban formation and the required basement for a dynamic social life in the form of public events with diverse perceptions was created, that all resulted in the foundation of a considerable range of public spaces in various type, including urban bridges. Accordingly, “Allahverdikhan Bridge”, with its functional and physical development, become a place of public gathering, recreation and urban interaction, which has played an important role in power balance in the target city.

The aim of this study is to examine the Safavid government relation with people, religion and city, and to study their effect on the formation of public spaces in Isfahan, especially Allahverdikhan Bridge. Based on this, the central position of this bridge in the Safavid power’s relation can be explained in accordance with the other components in the city.

A qualitative research study was adopted to analyze the concepts of research objectives through an interpretive-historical method and by addressing the library resources.

The results show that the special role of Safavid reign was to legitimize the power structure (reinforcing the religious and public base) in the process of social relations’ development and the formation of public spaces, especially in Allahverdikhan Bridge. The interaction and tolerance of the government system as the major base of power, in relation to ‘religion, society and city’, led to the formation of a connected space between the state and people (public spaces) and the balanced establishment between them. In this regard, Allahverdikhan Bridge as a public space, and considering its position and role in the urban structure of Isfahan in the Safavid era, become the center of power tolerance and social balance.

Problem statement: 

The street is one of the most important constituting components of urban appearance in modern times; by adding the street elements to the ‘urban planning system’, a great change has happened in the formation of architecture and urban planning in the present century in Iran. This development besides affecting the physical construction have had a great influence on the cultural and identity structure of urbanization in Iran. “Lalehzar Street” is one of the most important landmarks of modernism in the architecture and urban planning in Iran , which has had a great influence on the evolution of general landscape of Tehran city at the earlier this century.

This research study is trying to examine the influence of ‘street-linings’ and physical evolution on the process of modernization and development of Tehran, in which “Lalehzar Street” has been selected as a case study. Therefore, the urban development under the influence of ‘street element’ and the cultural impact of “Lalehzar Street” on human interactions will be examined here from various aspects.

At first step, “Lalehzar Street” is selected due to its importance and effect on the modernization of Tehran city, and later based on the library and documentary studies, using interpretive-historical method the urban developments in Tehran is discussed by choosing the case study of “Lalehzar Street”, from the second half of the Qajar rule onward; and at the final step, the role of the street in the process of modernization and development of Tehran is analyzed by using analytical-descriptive method.

The Iran’s political and social developments have been influenced by modernism since the second half of the Qajar rule, that many of its manifestation have been represented in various forms in Tehran. One of the most important appearance of this proceeding is the emergence of the street with its European pattern, which has influenced various aspects such as the city structure, commercialization and citizen interactions in a course of time from Qajar to Pahlavi that has given a new and modern appearance to the city.

The forming elements result in the shape of the city during the history and according to the requirements of their dweller have followed a lawful and completely intangible geometry that, in their unorganized appearance, can interact and strike a balance among government, nation, and religion. The present study seeks to read and analyze the hidden geometry in the form of the city in the historical past that facilitates the connection between social pillars of the city.

The method of this study is based on a qualitative approach of the historical-analytic type. By studying in the libraries and documents, this study has analyzed the hidden system of traditional city and the impact of modern development on it. In the case study of Sabze-Meydan, reading the hidden geometry is based on three heads of state, nation, and religion.

Hidden geometry in historic cities is a spirit that dominated the inner layers of the city and, with a systematic structure in functional and perceptual aspects, regulates the religious, political, and social relations of its inhabitants. With the advent of modernity and its fundamental transformations, the city of Tehran has been transformed. The proportions of the hidden and organic geometry in the Sabze-Meydan complex are transformed into euclidean geometry with perpendicular streets, and its balance is disturbed.

The geometric system contained in a city expresses the identity and civilization in it. The regular geometry of the modern city contrasts with the inner authenticity of the historical areas. Hence, the study of the hidden geometry of historical zones requires the adoption of an appropriate intervention approach in the city’s historical and charismatic tissues, through which historical authenticity can be restored.

Religious places are considered as important areas in cities so that they have supplied the bio balance and social life in the past. The development of cities and population growth have disrupted the balance of such textures and caused fundamental changes in their structure. An example of this issue is the inefficient texture of Emamzadeh Saleh (AS) which has been damaged in terms of historical values with the expansion of the city and its adjacent commercial space. Thus, regeneration of this urban area based on the recognition of contextual problems and the attitude of Islamic city studies and contemporization is among the objectives of the present study.

This study is applied-developmental and its method is based on descriptive-analytical method. The library is the data collection tool for discussing the component of regeneration and the criteria are extracted through analyzing the data. In addition, the analysis of texture is performed through field surveys and observations.

By reviewing the previous studies, Islamic city strategies are explained based on environmental, physical, economic, and social criteria and the components of contemporization are extracted based on these criteria. Besides, the strengths and weaknesses of the adjacent urban area have explored for identifying the regeneration components.

Urban regeneration facing runaway development requires an identity-oriented and originality-based approach in order to restore the past social value based on society needs by the help of the latest factors. In Islamic city studies, the status of religious places is of great importance in quality improvement and its epitome is contemporization adjacent areas of Ememzadeh Saleh (AS).